Two international clinical studies led by PD Dr Norbert Heinrich at the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at LMU University Hospital Munich with international partners have shown the safety and efficacy of two promising antibiotics as potential alternatives to linezolid in the treatment of tuberculosis.

The drugs, sutezolid and delpazolid, have demonstrated strong antimicrobial activity and a notably better safety profile compared to linezolid, with potential to replace this current cornerstone in the treatment of drug-resistant TB. The findings were published on July 8, 2025, in two peer-reviewed articles in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, one of the world’s leading journals in the field of infectious disease medicine. Research partners in Germany included the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich, the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, the Center for International Health (CIH) at LMU University Hospital and Helmholtz Munich.